


at the end of it all

by seothsayers



Category: SuperM (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Body Horror, Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Inspired by Annihilation (2018), M/M, Mild Gore, Reverse Chronology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:33:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25634353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seothsayers/pseuds/seothsayers
Summary: They only have each other now.
Relationships: Mark Lee/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas
Comments: 8
Kudos: 17





	at the end of it all

**Author's Note:**

> **content warning:** please read the tags!!!! as mentioned this is inspired by annihilation (2018) therefore there is a lot of death including non-graphic suicide, murder. also warnings for body horror, gore general distress. please let me know if you think i need to tag anything else.

It is a strange kind of quiet with just the two of them. They don’t talk anymore, not unless it is to stop for rest. Mark keeps touching Yukhei, a palm to his back, gentle graze of their elbows, forehead to forehead, just to make sure he’s still there. Yukhei does the same. He looks at Mark with such an intensity, as though if he blinks, Mark will be gone. Mark doesn’t blame him. It is a real possibility.

At night they look for shelter. Taking refuge in abandoned cars that aren’t smashed up, huddled up together in the backseat with their fingers intertwined. Mark’s become obsessed with lying his head on Yukhei’s chest and listening to the quiet _thud thud thud_ of his heartbeat. It is soothing and it sends him to sleep almost instantly.

They only have each other now.

“Look.”

Mark lifts his head and follows Yukhei’s pointed finger. He squints at the sky. It ripples with colour, green, pink, and purple. Mark frowns. “That’s new.” He says. They sky wasn’t like that when they first started out on this journey.

“Should we… should we go towards it?” Yukhei asks, hesitantly.

“What else have we got left to lose?” Mark says.

They walk towards the shimmer.

.

When Jongin vomits up a wiggling white larvae, Mark knows it is the beginning of the end.

Mark had noticed Jongin hadn’t been eating much. None of them were really, but Jongin was barely touching what they managed to gather from the bushes. It was another thing that made Mark feel ill with anxiety. The morning Jongin throws up he is already feeling particularly bleak. The anxiety consumes him completely.

Everyone reacts differently. Yukhei stomps on the larvae until it is paste in the soil. Baekhyun starts pacing back and forwards. Mark rubs circles on Jongin’s back. Jongin throws up another larvae and Mark takes a step back.

“You need to go.” Jongin says with a grimace. “I’m done for.”

“Hyung, no.” Yukhei argues.

“I’m going to die.” Jongin says clearly. “If not now, then soon. These things are inside of me and eating me up. I don’t want you to watch me go too. You’ve all seen too much of that.”

Mark closes his eyes.

There is a shout and Mark opens them again, rushing forward. Jongin is on all fours, clawing at his throat with one hand, gasping for air. Baekhyun pushes Yukhei out of the way and starts trying to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre. “It’s not working,” Baekhyun says after a moment. “Whatever it is, it must be too big to dislodge.” He keeps trying though, and Mark watches, useless, until Jongin’s eyes roll back in his head and his body goes limp in Baekhyun’s arms.

Baekhyun comes to a stop. He looks down at Jongin in his arms. Yukhei kneels down and takes Jongin from him gently, lowering his body to the ground. Mark drops down beside them. He closes Jongin’s eyelids.

Baekhyun starts sobbing. Yukhei reaches out to hold him, but Baekhyun shoves him away, scrambling to his feet and running into the woods.

“Fuck.” Yukhei is up instantly, chasing after him.

“I’m sorry hyung.” Mark tells Jongin. _Sorry we’re leaving in a hurry, sorry that you died in such a horrible way_. Mark grabs their bags and runs after the others.

Mark follows Yukhei’s voice, his shouts for Baekhyun. “Hyung! Stop!” He doesn’t realise Yukhei has come to a halt until he is crashing into him, and Mark ends up sprawled on his back on the forest floor.

“It’s all my fault.” He hears Baekhyun say. “It’s my fault everyone is dead.”

“It’s not.” Yukhei tells him. “Did you send a meteor crashing down to Earth? Did you somehow turn every creature in Korea into flesh-eating monsters? Hyung, this is not your fault.”

Mark slowly rises to his feet. Baekhyun is stood at the edge of a small cliff. Mark can hear the sound of rushing water – there is a river below. The jump would be enough to kill Baekhyun. If he didn’t die against the rocky cliff then he would drown in the water and if that somehow didn’t kill him, then the murderous creatures in the water would get to him. Mark takes in a shaky breath.

“I just wanted to protect you all, but I couldn’t even do that. What sort of a leader am I if I can’t protect you?” Baekhyun asks. “I failed.”

“You’re the best leader we could have ever asked for hyung.” Mark tells him. “I’m so glad I got to debut with you.”

“Me too.” Yukhei says. “We love you, so much.”

“You didn’t fail us hyung. No-one could have predicted this.” Mark adds.

For a moment, Mark thinks they might have broken through. Baekhyun stares off into the distance behind them, blinking away his tears. Mark takes a step forward and offers Baekhyun his hand. “Hyung. Please.”

Baekhyun shakes his head and wipes at his eyes. “I’m sorry,” Baekhyun says, and then he’s stepping backwards.

There is nothing they can do. Yukhei lunges forward, but it is too late. Baekhyun is gone.

Yukhei crumples to the ground and Mark goes down beside him.

.

“Hey.” Yukhei says, nudging Mark in the side gently.

“Hey yourself.” Mark nudges him back.

“How are you feeling today?” Yukhei asks.

Mark looks up to the sky. It is dark, almost grey. It will rain soon. Mark’s not looking forward to getting soaked to the bone again. “On a scale of 0 – 10 I’m sitting at a solid 0.2.” He answers.

Yukhei lets out a quiet snort. “Relatable.” Then, “I was thinking, if we get out of here, we should move.”

_If_. “Move where?” Mark asks.

“Anywhere. We could go to Hong Kong or we could go to Canada. Maybe Canada would be best actually. Somewhere far, far away from here.”

“Antarctica?” Mark suggests.

“I’ll add it to the list.” Yukhei says, a small smile on his face. “Me, you, Baekhyun hyung and Jongin hyung.”

Mark glances over at the other two. They are walking side by side in silence, a little bit ahead of Mark and Yukhei. “Yeah.” Mark says softly, a sinking feeling in his gut. “The four of us.”

.

It is clear there is something wrong with Jongin. It’s not just the loss of Taemin and the others, it is something to do with his arm. Mark catches him staring at it with distress when he thinks no-one is looking, tracing his fingers over the still swollen skin. It has gone down now, his arm back to its regular size, but the bumps are still there and seem to show no sign of reducing even after a few days.

Mark doesn’t bring it up for a few reasons. One, he doesn’t know how to. Jongin might just be looking at it and relating it to Taemin’s death, it might not be anything else. Two, if Jongin wanted to talk about it, he would. No-one said much these days but if there was something going on, he would say, Mark was sure of it. Finally, he doesn’t want to tip Baekhyun over the edge.

It isn’t a competition. They are all finding it hard to deal with the loss of their members, but Baekhyun is like a completely different person. He looks even worse than he did after Ten passed. He’s out of it and Mark gets it, he really does, because fuck, Mark doesn’t want to live like this anymore either, but it is making him careless. Mark is trying to juggle keeping an eye on Jongin and his swollen arm, watching Baekhyun to make sure he doesn’t disappear in the night, the subtle shattering of Yukhei’s brave face façade as well as his own mental health. It’s a lot.

It feels inevitable at this point that they are all going to die. Mark doesn’t see another way out of this. He hates that he is just waiting to lose someone else.

Mark wakes up in the middle of the night to see Jongin clawing at his arm.

“Hyung?” He says, sitting up and crawling over to where Jongin is sat. “Hyung what are you doing.”

“It itches so badly.” Jongin says. “Nothing is giving me any relief.”

Under the moonlight, Mark looks down at Jongin’s arm and sees movement under the skin. He has his mouth open, ready to respond to Jongin and he just stops in his tracks, blinks, and waits until he sees it again. “Jongin hyung…” Mark says slowly. “There is something under your skin.”

Jongin freezes. There is an indecipherable look on his face.

“You knew?” Mark asks.

“It’s hard to miss when it is attached to your body.” Jongin mutters, clenching his fist. “I think… it’s some sort of infection from when I got stung.”

Mark’s whole-body shudders. “This isn’t good.”

“Don’t tell Baekhyun.” Jongin pleads. “He is losing his mind and I don’t want to stress him out more than he already is. I’ll just hide my arm, try not to itch it.”

“Hyung…”

“Please, Mark.” Jongin begs.

“Okay.” He nods. “Yeah… okay. But talk to me if you need anything, okay hyung? I mean it. If it gets worse, let me know.”

“I will.” Jongin smiles. “Thanks Mark.”

.

Things go smoothly. _Too_ smoothly, almost. No bear sightings, no chittering rats trailing after them on the road, finally signs of possible life – other abandoned cars, a whole empty coach. Mark thinks back to what Yukhei had said. _Think about what you can do_. He is getting good at figuring out where to find fruit and berries. Mark becomes obsessed, collecting what he can. There is nothing else he can do to make himself feel useful.

Ten and Taeyong’s absence is felt heavily, there is no doubt about it. Jongin, Taemin and Yukhei are trying their hardest to keep everything together, leading the way, making little jokes to try and lighten the mood – half of them fall flat but as the days go by it gets easier to accept that they need all the little snippets of happiness they can get. Mark is getting better at staying in the present, not losing himself in his own head. Each day is a struggle, but he is slowly making it through.

It is Baekhyun he is really worried about. He looks terrible, there is no polite way of putting it. The dark circles under his eyes sink deep like craters and every morning they are red and swollen. He is twitchy, distant, slow to respond. Not the joker he used to be, not the sticky glue that was keeping them all together. He knew he wasn’t the only one who was worried. All eyes were on Baekhyun, watching his every move.

It was clear they were all thinking the same thing. Ten had snapped. Now they were another member down and the guilt was even stronger, it could be anyone of them being tipped over the edge next.

They find a spring. It had rained a few times since this had all begun, but it was either a slight drizzle or a dramatic downpour that left them downtrodden and drenched. For the first time, Mark could wash properly. He switched into one of the few changes of clothing he had in his airport bag and scrubbed at the rest with his carry-on body wash in the water, leaving them out on the grass to dry.

There is something about a clean body and clean clothes that leaves him feeling refreshed. Sure, he is still starving and he is worried that if he closes his eyes for too long someone will get snatched by a bear or get eaten by flowers, but he feels better prepared to face it all. Maybe only by 1%, but it’s a whole percent more than he had felt the day before.

“Hey, Mark.”

Mark looks over to Yukhei just in time to get splashed in the face with water. He splutters as Yukhei laughs; a proper belly laugh that is like music to his ears. “Dude! What the hell!” As soon as he gets his bearings, he splashes Yukhei back.

He can hear Jongin and Taemin laughing – _actual_ laughter – and when he turns around there is a ghost of a smile on Baekhyun’s lips.

They stay by the spring for a while. Drink as much water as they can and then fill up their bottles (and the bottles they had managed to grab from Taeyong and Ten’s bags too). It is like a little oasis in the middle of hell. Mark is thankful for the brief reprieve, and it is clear everyone else is too. The mood is lifted by just a hair’s breadth and it does wonders.

“When we get out of here, I’m never going camping ever again.” Taemin says. “In fact, I don’t want to even spend time in nature. I’ve had my fill for the rest of my life.”

“All those weekend retreats to cabins in the woods seem like fairy tales.” Jongin adds.

“What if it has a hot tub?” Yukhei questions. “You’re not up for sharing a hot tub outside a log cabin in the woods?”

“Nope.” Taemin answers. “I will be taking holidays on beaches only from now on. Sun, sand and safely away from mutant bears.”

“Ow!”

Everyone freezes at Jongin’s voice, the atmosphere immediately turning sour again.

“What is it?” Baekhyun asks.

“Something stung me.” He says, lifting his forearm. There is a little red bump. “I didn’t see anything, did you?” He asks Taemin.

Taemin shakes his head. “No, I – holy shit.”

There is a faint buzzing sound that seems to be growing louder and louder. Mark looks over at Taemin and sees him staring off into the trees, where it looks like a vibrating dust cloud is coming straight towards them.

“What is that?” Mask says, narrowing eyes.

“I don’t know but I think we should go.” Baekhyun says, grabbing his stuff. “Quickly.”

Mark shoves his half dry clothes into his backpack and takes off after the rest of the group. He looks over his should every few seconds to see the cloud keeping up with them. The buzzing is overpowering now, a constant thrum in his ears.

“Bees?” Yukhei says. “Wasps?”

It’s not long before they find out. Taemin trips and he insects are on him instantly, crowding him. In seconds, it’s impossible for Mark to see him. Taemin’s arm sticks out of the swarm and Jongin rushes forward to grab it to try and pull him free. “Hornets.” He says, gritting his teeth.

Mark can’t hear anything over the buzzing. It’s thunderous. He can see Jongin mouthing something hear the shout from Baekhyun in response, but the words all blend together. Taemin’s fingers slip from Jongin’s and then Yukhei is at his side, pulling him away. Jongin’s arm is red and swollen, covered in stings and there are tears streaming down his face as they run as fast as they can.

They don’t stop until they are back at the road and the buzzing ends. Mark lies down on the tarmac, panting as he tries to catch his breath.

“How is your arm?” Yukhei asks quietly.

Mark sits up as Jongin answers. “Sore.” He says. It looks horrid – Mark hadn’t seen it properly whilst they were running, but now he could see it had swelled to twice its normal size, covered in angry bumps. Mark offers his water bottle to try and soothe the pain, trickling the liquid over Jongin’s arm.

He stands after a while, walking over to Baekhyun. He’s sat down away from the rest of the group at the edge of the road, facing back the way they came. Mark sits down and wraps an arm around him. Baekhyun drops his head onto Mark’s shoulder. “What a horrible way to go.” Baekhyun says after a moment.

Mark shivers.

.

Mark has been having nightmares. They all have, it is just him that seems to be the most vocal. Baekhyun talks in his sleep anyway, and Mark can hear the names of Taeyong, Ten and their manager. Sometimes he says the name of one of the few of them left and Mark feels a cold shiver run down his spine. _Who will be next_? His brain unhelpfully supplies.

It is Yukhei who he reaches for in the middle of the night when things get rough, Yukhei he curls into during the day when they see something too gruesome on their trek. Yukhei has always had a comforting aura – the gentle comedic giant that had everybody wrapped around his pinky finger. Mark was no different. Yukhei was his best friend, there was no doubt about it. Nothing could centre him like a warm hug from Yukhei could, big hands splayed against his back, Yukhei’s chin hooked over his shoulder.

It seemed to be the same for Yukhei too. He had been so close to Ten, the way Mark had been to Taeyong and Mark knew by the distant look in Yukhei’s eyes, the permanent frown on his face, that this was eating him up inside. So, Mark offers Yukhei what Yukhei offers him. A hand to hold, a shoulder to lean on, an ear to listen. One night Yukhei cries until he’s gasping for breath and Mark sits with him through it, running his fingers through Yukhei’s hair.

“I’ve got you.” Mark tells him. “I’m here.”

.

It has been four days since Taeyong was killed. At least, Mark thinks it has. He has been tracking the sun as it rises and falls in the sky, but the air seems different. The night seems to stretch out for an eternity and the day passes in a blink of an eye.

No-one is coping. Mark takes in the dark rings under Baekhyun’s eyes, the thin line of his lips. Ten hasn’t said a word to anyone since they left Taeyong by the side of the road, despite how hard Yukhei has been trying to engage him. Jongin’s shoulders are tense as he marches ahead. Taemin keeps his head down but keeps glancing back behind them as though Taeyong is suddenly going to appear at the back of the group, like this is all a joke and that his dead body was just a figment of their imaginations.

Mark wishes it were a joke.

He has accepted that this isn’t a dream. That this is the life they live now. He keeps pulling out his phone, dialling random numbers. He would kill to be able to talk to his mom again. To _Taeyong_ again. One of those things would never happen and the other was looking less likely as each day passed.

He was hungry. They had finished the food and water they had with them. Their only option is what they can scavenge: berries, fruits (much to Ten’s silent dismay), but even then, Mark is wary. It’s like the bear. Things are different. He has seen cranes with two heads, the way the bats circle them at night and the rats that seem to be watching them from the trees as they walk.

“I’ve been thinking,” Yukhei says quietly as they walk. “Do you think this has effected the whole world? The meteor, or whatever it was, crashed here. Is this all… localised?”

Mark frowns. “If this is happening all over the world it would have to be a pretty powerful force, right? The world is like, _big_.”

“Astute observation Mr Lee.” Yukhei laughs. “The word is indeed big.”

“Shut up.” Mark grins and punches Yukhei’s arm gently. “I don’t know. I don’t want to think this is something that has affected the whole world because that means there is no-one out there coming to save us. We’re all alone.” A wave of sadness washes over him. It’s a scary thought.

“We’re getting out of here, Markie. I promise.” Yukhei tells him.

Mark should have seen it coming.

Ten had been wandering off ahead of the group whilst they walked. He was talking a little bit now, but it was mostly to warn them of what lay ahead. There is a mother bear and her cubs stalking down the road towards them that they duck into the trees to avoid. Ten had fashioned himself a spear out of a tree branch and he looked two seconds away from hunting them down, to avenge their loss. It was only the hand on his shoulder from Taemin that stopped him.

“Let’s stop here for the night.” Jongin suggests, gesturing to a small clearing in the trees.

“I’ll take first watch.” Ten says.

“I’ll stay up with you.” Yukhei offers immediately. Ten looks reluctant but nods.

Mark settles down in between Baekhyun and Jongin. “You okay, hyung?” He asks, nudging Baekhyun lightly with his elbow. “You’ve been really quiet today.”

“Tired.” Baekhyun answers. “Feels like we’ve been walking forever, but there’s no sign of anything that could help us yet.” Then there is everything that lies unspoken.

Mark wants to say something like “It’s okay, we’ll get through this,” but it feels ingenuine when he feels more hopeless as each day goes by. Instead he reaches out and takes Baekhyun’s hand, offers his other to Jongin and says. “Let’s sleep.”

Yukhei wakes Mark up with a gentle shake to the shoulder. “Your turn to watch.” He says, gesturing to where Ten is sat, still awake. Mark nods and stands up, making his way to Ten’s side.

“You should get some sleep, hyung.” Mark tells him. “You’re taking watch every night.”

“Well, sorry I don’t want to see another one of you get your face ripped off by a bear.” Ten mutters, stabbing at the ground with a twig.

“None of us want that either.” Mark says. “Just an hour. I’ll wake you up, I promise.”

Ten shakes his head and gets to his feet.

“Where are you going?” Mark asks.

“For a walk.” Ten says.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Mark gets to his feet. “It’s dark, there are… _things_ out there, hyung. Going off on your own is a death wish.”

Ten stares at Mark for a moment. Mark can’t make out his expression from this far away, not in the dark, but he knows it can’t be good. “Hyung, please.” Mark begs.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes, Markie. Just need to clear my head.” Ten says, and then he is gone.

Mark doesn’t wait a few minutes before he starts waking up the others. He goes to Yukhei first. “Wake up.” He says. “Ten just went into the trees on his own and we need to go and find him.”

Yukhei’s on his feet almost instantly. Mark moves on to waking up the others.

“What direction did he go in?” Taemin asks.

Mark points. It’s deeper into the trees. 

“It’s still really dark out.” Baekhyun mutters. He looks like he is about to say something else, but he shakes his head. “Come on, let’s go.”

The only noise is the sound of their feet against the forest floor. The occasional snapping of a tree branch, the sound of an owl hooting eerily in the dark. Mark can feel himself starting to panic. It was way too dark for them to see where they were going, let alone Ten.

“Ten?” He whisper-shouts, listening out for any kind of response. “Hyung?”

There is nothing of course.

When day breaks, Baekhyun turns to look at them all with a resigned expression. They were so far into the woods now that it was going to take them a while to make their way back to the road. Mark should have just stopped Ten from going, woke up the others before he had the chance to disappear into the darkness. It was all his fault.

They make their way back in the direction they came from. “Maybe he’s waiting for us back where we were sleeping.” Baekhyun suggests. “Maybe he just did a loop around us.” He doesn’t look like he believes a word that is coming out of his mouth.

It’s Yukhei that finds it – the bracelet Ten had worn every day since his last birthday, a gift from a fansite. After that, it’s not long before they find his boots, his jacket, his backpack. “Where is he?” Baekhyun looks a second away from pulling his own hair out.

“Hyung.” Jongin says after a few more minutes of searching. “Over here.”

There is a series of flowers seemingly growing out of the ground in the shape of a human. One about Ten’s height, about his width. On the floor around the figure is Ten’s shirt, his jumper, his trousers. Jongin lifts a hand to touch the structure and it collapses, the flowers floating to the ground.

Baekhyun drops to his knees and holds Ten’s shirt to his chest.

.

Night-time creeps up on them. Mark has come to terms with the fact that for now, they are alone. SM might have people out looking for them, but with their phones not working they have no way of being contacted. It could take days for the company to find them, maybe weeks. Mark starts to spiral. Maybe there is no-one looking for them. Maybe the company has just decided to let them die. What if the company has been destroyed in whatever this is and it is weeks before anyone thinks about SuperM, the fact they were supposed to be releasing content for their next comeback? Weeks, months, years. There is no way they will last that long. They are idols, not adventurers. Getting to the city is going to be hard enough as it is, they don’t have enough food and water to last them a few days never mind any longer than that.

“Mark.”

He glances over at Yukhei who is watching him with a frown. Yukhei’s been holding his hand for hours now. Mark is sure Yukhei has noticed the way that every time his mind escapes him, he squeezes Yukhei’s hand to ground himself.

“Yeah?”

“I know it’s probably impossible, but you need to stop thinking.” Yukhei says. “You’re going to give yourself a panic attack.”

“Are you not thinking about everything?” Mark lifts his free hand in the air and waves it. “The thing in the sky, our phones, the fact we just watched someone we know _die_.”

“Of course, I am.” Yukhei says quietly. “But there’s nothing we can do about any of that. We don’t control the sky or technology and none of us were driving the car.” Yukhei pauses and takes in a deep breath. “I’m just thinking about what we _can_ do. Keep each other company, find some place to sleep. We are all dead on our feet, I don’t think we can keep walking into the night. It’s been a long day for us all.”

“When did you get so wise?” Mark asks. Yukhei shrugs.

“Yukhei’s right.” Mark jumps as Baekhyun speaks up, not realising they had an audience. “We should stop. Off the road but close by just in case a car comes by.”

They make their way to the side of the road, putting their stuff down under some trees that would give them some cover if the weather decided to take a turn for the worst. At this point, the world was against them, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if it did. Mark drops down into the dirt. Yukhei sits down beside him and Jongin takes the other side.

“Should we take it in turns to keep watch?” Taeyong asks quietly.

_Just like in the movies_ , Mark thinks. “Do it in pairs.” He says. “Just in case.”

“I’ll take first watch.” Baekhyun says.

“I’ll stay up with you, hyung.” Ten says.

“Okay.” Baekhyun nods. “Try… try and get some sleep guys. I know it’s rough, but you’ll feel better if you do. We’ll wake you up in a few hours.”

Mark crawls over to Taeyong, who is lying on his back, looking up at the sky. “Hyung?”

“Hey, Markie.” Taeyong sounds tired.

“How are you holding up?” Mark asks.

“About as well as you are probably.” Taeyong lets out a strained laugh. “Not well.”

Mark glances over at Yukhei. The sky is even darker now, Mark can only just make him out. He reaches out and takes Taeyong’s hand in his own. “Get some sleep, hyung.”

“You too Mark.” Taeyong squeezes his hand. “Night Mark.”

Mark wakes to screaming. It takes a moment to place it as Ten.

“Hyung –” Mark starts, but then he takes in the sight before him and understands.

There is a low growl. In the early dawn light, Mark sees a large black bear standing over Taeyong’s body, its mouth stained with blood. Mark’s eyes stray down to the ground once and he heaves. It is close by – Taeyong had been sleeping next to him after all. Mark can smell the sour air of its breath. He can see Taeyong’s body – or what is left of it, anyway. Mark squeezes his eyes shut as he takes ragged breaths

“Look at its eyes.” Jongin whispers.

It is enough for Mark to open his own again. The bear’s eyes are clouded with a light purple. It is strange, definitely unnatural. Paired with the sharp teeth and bloody maw, it’s horrifying.

“Fuck you, you stupid fucking bear!” Ten shouts.

The bear growls again and takes a step in Ten’s direction.

“Hyung, I don’t think that’s a good idea –” Yukhei starts.

“Well if you have any better ideas the floor is open, Yukhei!” Ten snaps. “In case you hadn’t noticed, Taeyong is fucking dead.”

There is a tense silence, broken by the sound of the bear tearing its gaze away from Ten to take a bite out of what Mark _thinks_ is Taeyong’s arm. He closes his eyes again. He is about three seconds from throwing up whatever is left in his stomach.

“We need to go.” Baekhyun says at last. “I don’t think the bear plans on moving any time soon.”

“We can’t just leave him!” Ten points to Taeyong’s body.

“What else are we going to do Ten?” Baekhyun asks, frustration bleeding into his tone. “Wait politely for the bear to finish eating and then bury the three bones that are left?”

Mark flinches. Yukhei’s eyes widen and they exchange a look.

“Fuck you.” Ten spits.

“I don’t want to leave him either, Ten.” Baekhyun lets out a shuddery breath. “But what else are we going to do? We need to go, before it decides to turn on one of us. This has been… I can’t lose another one of you.”

Jongin makes the decision for them. He starts picking up what he can, passing some things to Taemin, the rest to Yukhei. He takes a slow step backwards, then another. Taemin follows, then Yukhei, then Mark. Baekhyun holds out his hand to Ten, one eye on the bear. “Please.” Baekhyun begs.

They back away from the bear together until they join the rest, back on the road and far enough away that they would have a head start if the bear changed its mind and decided it wanted an extra snack. Mark watches the shape of the bear, what he can make out of Taeyong’s remains. Ten is sobbing behind him.

A hand touches Mark’s shoulder lightly. He looks up to see Jongin, looking over at the same spot he was. “Come on.” Jongin says. “We should move.”

Mark gives Taeyong one last longing look before he walks away.

.

The meteor strikes when they are on their way back from the airport.

It is early morning, the sun having only just risen in the sky. Mark is asleep against Taemin’s shoulder when a loud _boom_ wakes him up. “Oh my god!” Taemin shouts. “Did you see that? Did you see it in the sky?”

“What was it?” Mark asks, rubbing at his eyes.

“A meteor? A UFO?” Jongin suggests, pressing his face up against the window. “Whatever it was, it was burning up.”

“It is a good idea to be travelling _towards_ the strange thing that fell out of the sky?” Taeyong looks nervous. “Hyung?”

“Maybe we should pull over. At least until we know what lies up ahead.” Baekhyun says. He turns to their manager. “Hey –”

Mark is thrown up against the window with a jolt as the car suddenly veers off the side of the road. They smash into a tree and Mark is thrown forward. His seatbelt digs into the skin at his neck but that is about the worst of his injuries. There is a ringing in his ears, and it takes a moment for him to adjust. The car is quiet as they all catch their breath. Then –

“Oh no.”

Baekhyun undoes his seatbelt and reaches over the gearstick to put a hand to their manager’s neck. A stray tree branch had gone through the glass and pierced straight through his chest. His head is hanging to the side and there is blood _everywhere._

The realisation hits everyone at once. Mark scrambles to undo his seatbelt and get out of the car and as soon as he gets himself out, he throws up. He can hear noise behind him, everyone else getting out of the car, crying, general confusion. There is a big hand pressed gently to his back, rubbing small circles. Mark doesn’t have to turn around to know it is Yukhei.

“Here.” Yukhei says, passing Mark some water.

“Thanks.” Mark wipes at his mouth and gulps the water down.

“What the fuck.” Taemin mutters. “What the fuck!”

“I can’t believe he’s dead.” Taeyong says quietly. “This doesn’t feel real.”

“What do we do now?” Ten asks. “We don’t have a manager; we don’t have a car and we’re miles away from the city.”

Everyone turns to Baekhyun. He grimaces. “It’s still early. The road will get busier soon and we can try and hitch a lift off someone. SM isn’t just going to abandon us in the wild, they will realise we aren’t back and come looking.” Baekhyun pulls out his phone and after a few seconds, he frowns. “My calls aren’t going through.”

Mark pulls out his phone and beside him Yukhei does the same. Mark tries everyone in his recent contacts list – his mom, Minseok, Donghyuck – but each time he is met with the same dead tone.

“Anyone have any luck?” Baekhyun asks. The composed demeanour is slowly breaking away. He is biting at his thumb and tapping his foot as he tries to make another call.

“No.” Mark tells him.

“Let’s do what you said,” Jongin says. “Start walking. That way we’ll be away from… here.” He looks over at the wreck of their car.

They work in silence to pull their bags out of the trunk. Mark feels like he is having a horrible nightmare. This is some sick joke, really. First things falling from the sky, a car crash, their manager is _dead_ and now their phones aren’t working. It’s like something out of a horror movie. He closes his eyes and prays that he will wake up soon. It feels so real – maybe he’s lucid dreaming? As he starts to get more desperate, Mark pinches at his arms, _hard_.

“What are you doing?” Yukhei asks quietly.

“Trying to wake myself up.” Mark answers.

Yukhei takes Mark’s hand in his own and squeezes it gently. “Mark… I don’t think this is a dream. It is a horrible, horrible reality. _Our_ reality.”

Mark sighs. He looks at Baekhyun with his fake smile leading the way, Taeyong clinging onto Ten’s arm, Jongin and Taemin with their heads pressed together, talking quietly as they follow behind. He and Yukhei make up the rear of the group. When he turns, he can still see their car. “I was afraid you would say that.”

.

Everyone cries when they get their first win. They MCs call out their name, the confetti cannons explode, and it takes a solid minute for Mark to register that _oh my god,_ _they won_. Taemin is laughing at Jongin’s tears and Taeyong is tucked into Baekhyun’s shoulder whilst Ten pretends he isn’t crying. Yukhei grabs Mark by the shoulders and starts jumping up and down and Mark can’t help but jump with him because _god,_ have they worked hard for this.

The next hour passes by in a blur. They do their encore stage and a quick livestream for the fans and then they are being rushed out of their stage costumes and into the van with the promise of a good meal tonight, manager’s treat.

Baekhyun is a sloppy drunk, sneaking Mark and Yukhei sips of soju when he thinks the managers aren’t looking and kissing everyone on the cheek loudly. “I love you guys.” Baekhyun says after his second round of kisses.

“We love you too hyung,” Mark laughs.

“To our leader!” Yukhei cheers, lifting his Sprite, and everyone clinks their glass together in a toast.

It is late when they get back to the dorms. They need be up for the day’s music show in around five hours, but Mark is wide awake, riding on the adrenaline of the day’s events. Mark hopes the make up noona’s have extra coverage concealer on hand because the lack of sleep is going to be hard to hide.

It takes three people to strongarm Baekhyun into bed (Taeyong, unfortunately, is lost to Baekhyun’s clingy koala arms) and Ten cracks open more soju in the living room with Taemin and Jongin. They promise to be quiet when Mark tells them he is going to sleep, but Mark knows they won’t.

Mark takes a warm shower to try and knock himself out. By the time he heads back into his and Yukhei’s shared room, he’s starting to feel the exhaustion seeping into his bones.

Yukhei is lying on Mark’s bed when he enters. He pats the space beside him, and Mark rolls his eyes as he makes his way over, getting under the covers beside him.

“What a day.” Yukhei exhales, throwing an arm around Mark and pulling him close. “It doesn’t feel real.”

“I know.” Mark agrees. “Can you imagine if we win again tomorrow?”

“Oh god, don’t.” Yukhei says. “I’ll throw up on stage in excitement.”

Mark laughs. “Please don’t.”

“I can’t control my body’s urges.” Yukhei whines. He snuggles closer to Mark, nose pressed up against Mark’s cheek. “I feel so lucky. I never thought I would ever get here.”

“So do I.” Mark says. “Out of all the trainees in SM, we all got picked to debut in the same team. I don’t want to imagine what life would have been like without any one of you, you know? SuperM wouldn’t be SuperM without the seven of us.”

Yukhei squeezes Mark tight. “I think that even if we weren’t idols, we would have found each other somehow. I would have come to Korea, or maybe you would have come to Hong Kong, we would have met, and we would have become best friends, I just know it.”

Mark smiles so wide his cheeks start to hurt. “Dude, that’s so cheesy.” Mark laughs. “I love it.”

“We were destined to be together Mark Lee.” Yukhei says seriously. “I’m telling you.”

The noise in the dorm peters out after that. Ten’s drunk singing stops, the quiet murmuring of the others comes to a halt, bedrooms door clicking shut. Yukhei’s breath starts to even, soft little puffs of air against Mark’s neck. Mark drifts off eventually, and when he does, he dreams of golden trophies and the sun and Yukhei at his side.

.

The day Mark Lee meets Wong Yukhei, it’s snowing.

He is headed to SM after school to train, another gruelling evening of dancing until his bones hurt. There are a few familiar faces around – Baekhyun and Taemin both greet him as he enters the practice room – but most of the faces seem new. There have been a lot of new trainees lately. It makes Mark nervous.

Mark sets his bag down in the corner and starts to stretch. There are rumours that SM is starting to finalise the line-up of their next boy group, with the aim to debut them the following spring. They will be following in the footsteps of legends – SHINee and EXO. Mark has seen them in the corridors, bowed to them as he hurried by to attend vocal practice. There was a very real possibility that one day soon, that could be him.

There were a few people that _had_ to debut. Baekhyun, Taemin and Jongin had been around for an eternity, all narrowly missing chances to debut with other groups. This was their last chance. Mark noticed the way Baekhyun had bit at his lips until they bled, the fact Jongin kept wincing whilst he danced. This meant everything to them.

But then there were all the younger trainees – Taeyong, Ten, _Mark_. He wasn’t one to brag, but Taemin had told him one of the other trainees had heard the staff talking about Mark, the fact he was a favourite, that they found his skills to be promising. He had gone home and told his mom and she had asked, “How do you know they’re not trying to cause drama? If you didn’t hear the staff say that, then take it with a pinch of salt. I’m not doubting your skills, but people will do anything to get ahead in these companies.”

Mark has his fingers crossed.

“Hey, Mark!”

Mark looks up to see Ten headed in his direction with a stranger on his heels. One of the new trainees. He is wide eyed, plush lipped and _tall_. Mark can’t help but stare.

“Hey hyung.” Mark says. “Who’s this?”

“This is Yukhei – or Lucas. He’s a new trainee, his Korean is pretty basic since he’s just moved here from Hong Kong. I thought we could maybe show him the ropes since we’re both foreigners.” Ten says. He turns to Yukhei and says something in Mandarin.

Yukhei’s eyes widen and he breaks into a grin, sticking his hand out towards Mark. “Nice to meet you.” Yukhei says in broken Korean.

Mark shakes his hand. “Nice to meet you too, dude. I’m Mark.” Mark’s Mandarin is lacklustre, but he had picked up a bit from Ten and some of the other trainees. His pronunciation was definitely off, but it doesn’t seem to both Yukhei. It seems impossible for his eyes to widen even more, for his smile to grow even larger, but they do. It is endearing – even Ten is looking at Yukhei with barely disguised fondness in his eyes. “Mark.” Yukhei repeats. “I hope we can be good friends.”

Being a trainee was hard. People come and go all the time, and there was no guarantee that Yukhei, or even Mark, would still be at SM in three months’ time. Still, Mark wasn’t heartless. It would be impossible to get through all this without someone by your side, even more so as a foreigner. The past few years would have been a lot harder for him if he hadn’t had Baekhyun, Ten, Taemin, Jongin and Taeyong, as well as the others that have come and gone.

“Me too.” Mark tells him.

Yukhei beams.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope the reverse chronology isn't too hard to follow.. i tossed up writing it chronologically but i feel like its actually happier this way. definitely might help to reread when finished!


End file.
